Window-washing device



, frame/1.101 Ve /n9 5.157560 W 10 A M 9 5 V E ELLIS WINDOW WASHING DEVICE Filed Jan. 24,

Get. 7 1924.

Patented ct. 7, i924.

ire

vnnnn E. ELLIS, on NEW YORK, n. Y.

WINDOW-WASHING DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VERNE E. ELLIs, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at 375 West 126th, Street, in the city and county of New York, State of New York, have invented anew and useful Window- Washing Device,"of which the following is a specification.

My present inventionrelates to a device for cleaning and polishing windows, and has for its object the construction of an economical, efiicient and safe means for cleaning and polishing windows.

One of the advantages of my device is that the outside of the window may be cleaned therewith from the inside of the room, thereby eliminating the danger in getting out on the window sill or leaning outside of the window to clean thesame.

Another advantage of my device is that the corners of the windows are as well cleaned as any other part of the surface.

In the drawings accompanying this specification, and forming a part thereof, Fig

1 is a back plan View of my device in operative position, showing in dotted lines the compressing springs extended, and in solid lines the same springs compressed, and

Fig. 2 is a side sectional view thereof. The device herein described and shown by the drawings comprises the rectangular plate 3, of any suitable material, preferably thin brass, having the .corners slightly rounded, the plate being provided on its back near each end of the plate with a clamping member 4, having a clamping portion with rectangular extension ends which are hingedly secured to the plate as at 13, the clamping portion when in vertical position being spaced away from the face of the plate by its angular ends and when in this position being adapted to receive between the clamping portion and the face of the plate the upturned ends of the cleanv ing or polishing pad or cloth later mentioned, theclamping member being movable on its hinged connections downwardly for thereby retaining said pad or cloth in operative position on the plate 3.

The plate 3 is provided with compressing members 5 in the form of spring Wire loops, that is, they comprise straight parallel portions connected by a bow portion. The compressing members 5 are fixedly secured at the free ends of their straight portions to the back of the plate 3, as by the lugs 18, located near the side edges of the plate, the straight portions of said members" terminating in hooks22 extending outwardly from the lugs 18; The lugs 18-which are in opposed relation to each other relative OFFICE...

to the ends of the plate 3 are arranged out of alinement, one lug being nearer the edge of the plate than the other, whereby the straight portions of the compressing members 5 are brought into parallelism. The

compressing members 5 when in normal position are spaced away by their resiliency fromthe face of the plate 3 by continually increasing distance, from the point of at.- tachment of the straight portions at 18 to the bow ends of the compressing members, as seen whenviewed from the side. in Fig. 2.

A cord or flexible band 11,- is attached bridle-wise at one end to the hooks 22of one of the compressing members 5 and a similar cord or band is similarly attached to the hooks 22 of the other compressing member 5, the cords or bands being passed over the bow'ends of these members so thatthe bow so ends are between the cords or bands and the plate 3, and the cords or bands bear on thejbow ends, whereby strain or pull on the cords or hands causes compression of the compressing members with consequent tendency of the compressing members to press or force the plate 3 against an adjacent parallel surface, in this instance the glass of the window sash.

But, as may be readily understood, it is not essential that the cords or bands 11 should be securedto the compressing memor bands 11 passes over asheave 2, slid'ably' movable on the rod "or shaft '7, which rod is fixedly positionable between thejambs of the window frame, one rod at top and-the other rod at the bottom of the frame, ;by

means of the spring maintained extensible pressure'membe'rs 9 operatively arranged. in

a well known manner at the ends of the rod 7 a In operation, the pad or cloth a0, Fig 2, being clamped on the front face, of the plate 3, and the-rods 7 being inposition at the top and bottom of the window frame, to clean the outside of the glass of the upper sash, the upper sash is lowered and the lower sash is raised to substantially conforming adjacency therewith, the device is then passed over the upper edge of the sashes and by means of one of the cords.

or bands 11 is permitted to han face inward against the glass of the upper sash; thefcord .or band supporting the device is passed over the sheave of the upper rod I and carried downwardly and the other cord is passed under the lower edge of the lower saslrand thence over thesheaveof the lower rod and carried upwardly; by tension oi the cords, or bandsthe device is pressed against the glass by the compressing members and by alternately pulling on the co s or bands, a frictional cleaning or polishing movement of the device is afforded. To clean. the outside of the glass of the lower sash, the sashes being closed, the lower sash is raised slightly and one of the cords or bandsis passed over the upper edge of the lower, sashiand permitted to drop between the two sashes, the cords being provided at their unattached ends. with small weights, not shown, to facilitate this; the device is then drawn downwardly, through vthe space between the inner face of the glass of the upper sashand the outer face of the lower sash, the compressing members 5 being compressed or drawn down flatby the tension on the cordsor bands during the operation, the space provided between the frame portions of the sashes and the surfaces of the window frames permitting passage of the device, and the device is then operated as before described.

While I have here described the preferred form of my invention, it will be seen that my device is operable without the rods 7 by merely passing the bands 11 over the top and bottom of the window section be ing cleaned, and it is to be understood that my invention is susceptible of such modifications as come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

L In a window cleaning device, a plate; flexiblemeans secured to the plate for providing tractional movement of the plate by manual operation of said means; and springs having parallel straight portions connected by bow/ends; the straight portions being secured at their terminals to the plate, the bow end of one spring being opposed to'the bow end of the other spring and the straight portions of one spring being in parallelism with the straight portions of theotherspring, the springs due to' their resiliency being spaced away by an increasing distance from the face of the plate for the length of the springs from the points of their attachment to the plate to their bow ends; the flexible means when in operable position bearing on the bow ends or the springs and when manually operated compressing the springs for thereby pressing the plate against the glass of the window.

2. In a window cleaning device, a plate; flexible means secured to'a face of the plate for providing tractional movement'of the plate by manual operation of'said means; means adapted for frictional application to the glass of the window for cleaning or polishing the same means for removably securing said frictional means to a face of the plate; and springs having parallel straight portions connected by bow ends; the straight portions being secured at their terminals to the face of the plate opposite saidfrictional means, the bow end of one spring being opposed to the bow end .of the other spring and the straight portions of one spring being in parallelism with the straight portions of the other spring, the springs due to their resiliency being spaced away by an increasing distance from the face of the plate for the length of the springs from the points of their attachment to the plate to their bow ends; the flexible means when in operable position bearing on the bow endsof the springs and when manually operated compressing the springs for thereby pressing the plate and said frictional cleaning or polishing means against the glass of the window,

23. In a window cleaning device, a thin plate, a relatively thin cleaning or polishing cloth, means on the rear. face of the plate engaging the ends of said cloth for retain ing the cloth on the front face of. the plate, spring members secured tothe rear face of the plate and. having oppositely 8X- tending bow portions normally spaced away from the plate at their ends .by the resiliency of the members and compressible to bring the bow portions into positions substantial ly parallel to the rear face of the plate and adjacent thereto, and flexible means secured to the plate having free ends passing over said how portions and engageable with the window sash for providing tractional move ment of the plate by normal operation of said means and for compressing said bow portions during said tractional movement, the relative thinness, of said cloth and said compressibility of the spring-V members permitting passage of the devicethrough tl e space afforded between the panes ofthe upper and lower sashes when the sashes are in partially raised relation for. position ing the device on a pane of the lower sash for cleaning or polishing the pane.

VERNE E. ELLIS.

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